Now is the time to book a great holiday deal on Continental or home shores,
including prime spots in France, Spain, Italy and Greece, says Fred Mawer.

If you haven’t yet booked your family holiday for this summer, don’t worry. There are still plenty of appealing holidays left, both abroad and at home, and some good deals to be had, too.

In terms of when it’s best to get away, you might well imagine that availability would be widest, and prices keenest, during the Olympics. Running from July 27 to August 12, they take up two-and-a-half weeks of the school holidays. But of the many holiday companies I’ve contacted, only a handful – most notably Continental camping operators – have said this is the case.

Instead, most companies are reporting that the Olympics appears to be having little impact on typical school summer holiday booking patterns. Which either means they are no more or less booked up in late July and early August than in the rest of the school holidays, or that their availability is best, and their prices a bit lower, at the end of the school holidays in late August – as is usually the case each year.

“There isn’t a noticeable glut of deals over the Olympics,” says Joel Brandon-Bravo, managing director of the deals website Travelzoo. “The Games coincide with the very peak summer holiday time, so millions will be going away then anyway.”

Some companies are saying that bookings are down compared with last summer, but it’s to do with the recession, not London 2012. “We certainly don’t feel that the Olympics are getting in the way, more that there is just a reluctance to spend money,” says Wendy Shand of the family self-catering specialist Tots to Travel.

Below are some pointers for where to find value, availability and deals for holiday breaks in the main European destinations and Britain.

Availability and prices were correct at the time of writing, but may have changed since.

I’ve focused on the state school holiday period, typically July 21 to September 2. If you educate your children privately, bear in mind that travel and accommodation prices are often lower in early and mid-July, when most private schools have broken up but state ones haven’t.

While some discounts are already on offer for July and August breaks, the late-booking market for school holiday getaways hasn’t properly kicked in yet. If you postpone booking for a few more weeks, and are happy to be flexible about dates of travel and where exactly you go and stay, you may well find better deals. Good starting points for searches are travelzoo.co.uk, the late deals sections of thomson.co.uk, firstchoice.co.uk and thomascook.com, and, for smaller specialists, aito.co.uk. However, the later you leave booking, the higher the cost of flights and ferries.

France

Flights cost a packet in the school summer holidays, particularly if you haven’t bought the tickets yet. Which is why a late-booked break to France is so appealing. You can still get the car, all passengers and luggage to Calais and back with P & O Ferries (poferries.com) for £100, crossing at civilised times in August.

Though longer crossings to western France are much dearer, they still work out vastly cheaper for a family than flying and renting a car. Brittany Ferries (brittany-ferries.co.uk) has plenty of summer availability on crossings outside the peak weekends, and on ferry/cottage packages it is offering discounts of up to 25 per cent on more than 100 properties, most of which have some unbooked school holiday weeks.

Cottages4you has a vast France portfolio, with rental rates at many properties discounted by 10 or 15 per cent in the school holidays: on cottages4you.co.uk, click “Seasonal discounts” in the preferences box in the availability search. Also consider Tots to Travel (0845 269 4126; totstotravel.co.uk), which still has lots of peak summer weeks available in its meticulously inspected, child-friendly, self-catering properties in France.

Camping packages are usually noticeably cheaper towards the end of August than earlier in the school holidays. However, leading operators are saying that availability is better this year, and prices lower, over the Olympics.

For stays at some campsites between mid-July and mid-August, Canvas Holidays (0845 268 0827; canvasholidays.co.uk) is offering discounts of up to 40 per cent, and Eurocamp (0844 406 0402; eurocamp.co.uk) of up to 25 per cent.

With Canvas, seven nights from August 10 in a two-bedroom mobile home at Camping Le Ranolien in Brittany is on offer for just £665, including off-peak Dover-Calais ferries.

Spain

James Villa Holidays (0800 074 0279; jamesvillas.co.uk) has widespread discounts on villa/flight packages for stays on the islands and mainland in the school holidays. Book by June 18, and you may find savings of 50 per cent.

In Spain, there are discounts on villa holidays; photo: Alamy

Mallorca Farmhouses (0845 800 8080; mallorca.co.uk) has many more properties left to book after the Olympics, and says prices are cheaper (typically around 12 per cent) in the last week of August.

For cheap self-catering, head to northern Spain, where most rentals are modest casas (houses) without pools. Brittany Ferries has 10 per cent reductions this summer on three dozen casas booked in conjunction with its ferry crossings to Santander or Bilbao – the discount applies to the whole booking.

For bookings by June 14, Sovereign (0844 415 1936; sovereign.com) has some enticing offers – including free child places and meals – for stays at high-quality beach hotels in the school holidays. For a family of three, a week’s half-board stay from July 24 at the Iberostar Grand Hotel Anthelia on Tenerife is on offer for £2,179.

Italy

The Italy specialist Citalia (0844 415 1956; citalia.com) has a summer sale on, again for bookings made up to June 14. At the four-star Flamingo Hotel in southern Sardinia, the deal includes a free child place, free night and upgrade from half board to full board: for a family of three for a week from August 4, the cost is £2,999 including flights.

The southern Italy specialist Long Travel (01694 722193; long-travel.co.uk) picks out the Hotel Al Duemila in Puglia as offering exceptional value for money: for a family of four staying all inclusive in a garden room, £1,425 per week during July or August, excluding flights.

For self-catering, Traditional Tuscany (01945 430055; traditionaltuscany.co.uk) still has good availability in the school summer holidays, particularly at some affordable properties with a shared pool in the cheaper Alta Tuscia area (southern Tuscany/Lazio border). An example is the two-bedroom La Bascola apartment at Carbonara, costing £650 a week in July and August.

Greece

As Sunvil (020 8568 4499; sunvil.co.uk), a leading Greek specialist, puts it: “There is general availability everywhere in Greece at present.” Given the country’s parlous economic situation and concerns about what might happen should Greece leave the eurozone, it is hardly surprising that bookings are down.

What is surprising is that holiday companies such as Sunvil and Olympic Holidays (020 8492 6868; olympicholidays.com), another Greek specialist, are saying that prices for the peak holiday season are, so far, holding up. So, more than for any other holiday destination this summer, it’s probably worth waiting a few weeks before booking to get the best price: there may be deals galore.

It’s worth waiting a few weeks before booking a Greek holiday to get the best price; photo: Alamy

If you want to book now, one company that has bitten the bullet and started discounting is Ionian & Aegean Island Holidays (020 8459 0777; ionianislandholidays.com). For bookings made before June 15, it is reducing the cost of many villas and apartments over the Olympics by 20 per cent.

Neilson (0844 879 8155; neilson.co.uk) has some deals on its sporty club holidays in Greece at the beginning and end of the summer holidays: for a family of four for a week from July 22 at the Neilson Retreat Beachclub, Sivota, £2,980, including a host of activities, most meals and childcare, and Manchester flights.

If you do decide to go to Greece this summer, book a package with a tour operator: then, whatever happens, you should be largely protected against any disruption.

Turkey

In previous years, cut-price late deals on Turkish holidays have been easy to come by, but that may well not be the case this July and August. “The major tour operators have reduced their Turkish programmes, and a couple of Turkey specialists have ceased trading,” says Akin Koç, managing director at Anatolian Sky (0844 273 1003; anatoliansky.co.uk). “People will be disappointed if they wait until the last minute for peak-time discounts.”

Anatolian Sky has decent availability at the moment across the prime summer weeks, with prices a bit lower for the end of July and early August than later in August. The company concentrates on smaller, quieter resorts such as Akyaka – a cheap half-hour ride by dolmus (minibus) into lively Marmaris.

Thomas Cook (thomascook.com) and First Choice (firstchoice.co.uk) offer a big choice of large, family-friendly, four-star, all-inclusive hotels in the Antalya area. Play around with dates on their websites for the best deals. I’m looking at £2,427 for a family of four at the well-reviewed Hotel Riu Kaya Belek for a week from August 7, including flights, with First Choice. Factor out the cost of the flights, and that’s less than £60 a head per day – good value.

Britain

It’s a myth that you need to book many months ahead to get a cottage in August in a prime holiday area. Last week, homeaway.co.uk, the leading website for owners to advertise for direct bookings, was showing availability from August 18 to 25 of 494 “children-welcome” properties sleeping four or more in the West Country – 153 of which were tagged as near a beach. Sort the properties by “Number of Reviews” to bring to the top of the list those with feedback from previous guests.

The best starting point for high-quality cottages across Britain is premiercottages.co.uk. All are four or five-star tourist-board graded, and lots of enticing, child-friendly rentals are still available through July and August.

If you want to go through an agency, cottages4you.co.uk has the biggest selection, and lots of availability in the peak summer weeks, even in regions such as Cornwall. Discounts of 20.12 per cent are on offer at some properties in the school holidays – as before, click “Seasonal discounts” in the availability search.

Cornwall, where there are still lots of cottages available; photo: Alamy

Forest Holidays (0845 130 8223; forestholidays.co.uk) is promising at least 20.12 per cent off all July and August stays in its stylish log cabins, set in Forestry Commission woodland on seven British sites. Book soon for the best availability.

If all the above sounds too pricey in these financially challenging times, then perhaps this offer from the YHA (01629 592700; yha.org.uk) will appeal. For stays between July 6 and September 17, and bookings by June 12, three nights in a family room at many of its hostels costs just £99. The offer code is FAMSTAY-030.